Len McCluskey - Austerity? My Arse!

All in it together – or is Austerity Britain for us and not ‘them’ - the bankers and the millionaires? Can the Coalition turn it round or are we all con-demned to spend the next ten years back in Orwell’s Britain of the 1930’s?

Liverpool born Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Unite, the Union, has been an active trade unionist since his first job on the docks in the 1960’s. Len was elected General Secretary of Unite in 2010, promising to ‘campaign against the devastation the Government is unleashing against working people and their communities throughout the land.’ A controversial figure, ‘Red Len’ is calling for a huge turnout at the TUC’s Anti-Austerity demonstration in London on October 20th, demanding a ‘A Future That Works’.

Len was introduced by Ricky Tomlinson. Best known for his roles in Brookside, Cracker and The Royle Family, Ricky is no stranger to working class struggles. He was wrongly jailed as one of the ‘Shrewsbury Two’ for his role in the building workers strikes of the 1970’s.

Radical alternatives to the austerity measures discussed in a heated debate at the Adelphi as part of the always engrossing Writing on the Wall festival. Mandy Williams reports.

Awell-attended and topical ‘rebel rant’ was delivered by Len McCluskey – UNITE and Keep the Faith, An Answer to Austerity – this week in the Adelphi Hotel as part of The Writing on the Wall series of the same name. This unique programme of events has previously included lectures from Martin Bell, Germaine Greer, Darcus Howe, Bonnie Greer, Peter Tatchell, Joan Bakewell, Benjamin Zephaniah and Derek Hatton.